This Group Of Elmhurst D-205 Get 14% Pay Raises

ELMHURST, IL – Like many districts, Elmhurst School District 205 has struggled to find teacher's aides over the years.

The district has attended job fairs and has run advertisements to find aides, but found little success.

Over the last couple of years, the district has seen 40 vacancies among teacher's aides, said Luke Pavone, assistant superintendent for human resources.

"The last 10 individuals who we lost went to other educational assistant positions at higher starting salaries," Pavone told the school board Tuesday. "The only logical step we needed to take was to look at our current salary structure."

He noted companies such as Target, Amazon, Starbucks and Portillo's offer starting wages of more than $15 an hour.

Under the administration's proposal, the district's starting wage for teacher's aides would rise to $15.85 an hour, from $13.95, a 14 percent increase.

The proposal called for hiking the wages for all three groups of teacher's aides.

"They work very hard," Pavone said. "We feel it's really important to acknowledge their service and tenure, along with the experience they have working with the district."

Board member Jim Collins agreed.

"The board really appreciates all our (teacher's aides) who have stuck with us, continue to come to work," he said. "We recognize they are a vital link and a huge influence in the development of our students, and we value them very much."

The board unanimously approved the proposal. That drew applause from teacher's aides in the audience.

Board President Kara Caforio noted the aides had waited more than three hours, past 10 p.m., to witness the board's decision.

"We're dedicated," one of the aides replied.

At Lyons Township High School, which has campuses in La Grange and Western Springs, the teacher's aides union has gone without a contract since August. Aides have spoken out at board meetings and recently held a demonstration.

At Lyons Township, teacher's aides start at $15.45 an hour. Last month, the board offered an 8 percent increase, which the union rejected.